Akuna and SIG both make markets in options, and both will hire a maths student who has never priced one. The difference is how you get through the door. SIG is the bigger door: Quantt counts roughly 80-120 graduate trader seats a year against Akuna's 30-40, and SIG's first-year range is higher. Akuna is the narrower door with an unusual key: it publishes its own options syllabus, and doing well in its courses can move you straight to interviews.
Size explains most of the rest. Revelio Labs counted 3,867 SIG employees in March 2026, up 19.9% since 2023. Akuna, which Revelio tracks as Akuna Securities, had 563, down 12.8% over the same period.
The 30-second verdict
| Akuna Capital | SIG (Susquehanna) | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded / HQ (Wikipedia) | 2011, Chicago | 1987, Bala Cynwyd, PA |
| Offices (Wikipedia) | Chicago, London, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore | US offices plus Sydney, Dublin, London, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo |
| Headcount (Revelio Labs, Mar 2026) | 563 (-12.8% since 2023) | 3,867 (+19.9% since 2023) |
| Largest non-US regions (Revelio) | Pacific Islands 15.4%, East Asia 12.8%, Southeast Asia 7.7% | Northern Europe 23.5%, Pacific Islands 10.8% |
| Graduate trader intake (Quantt, 2026) | ~30-40 a year | ~80-120 a year |
| First test (Tradermath) | 80 mental-math questions in 8 min, 24 sequences in 12 min | 17 free-response questions in 60 min |
| Onsite (Quantt) | 4-5 rounds of 45 min, trading game, lunch, in Chicago | 4-6 rounds of 30-45 min, group game, lunch |
| Grad trader year one | $150K-$200K (Quantt); $235K-$335K total (Quant Blueprint) | $200K-$300K US (Quantt); up to $350K (techinterview) |
| levels.fyi medians (15 Sep 2026) | Trader $250K; software engineer $340,125 | Software engineer $233,501 |
| Trader training | 12-week full-time programme (Quantt) | Multi-month programme in Bala Cynwyd or Dublin (techinterview) |
| Side doors | Free Options 101, Options 201, Quant Trading Challenge | 10-week trading internship (sig.com) |
| Last 90 days | Quant Trading Challenge ran 17-21 Aug 2026 | Hired Bjarne Stroustrup as technical fellow (MyChesCo, 17 Aug 2026) |
Interviews: an arithmetic sprint vs a probability paper
The first test. Akuna co-founder Andrew Killion came from Optiver (Wikipedia), and the opening screen is built around speed. Tradermath's guide describes 80 mental-math questions in 8 minutes, six seconds each, followed by 24 sequence questions in 12 minutes. Candidates who pass go on to a HackerRank test of two or three easy-to-medium coding questions and a VidCruiter betting game, where you wager on letter pairs in a table before a winning row is drawn. Quantt's May 2026 guide describes a single 60-minute test of mental maths and probability, so expect the format to vary by cycle.
SIG's first test gives you more time per question and makes each one harder. Tradermath describes a 60-minute, 17-question free-response paper covering continuous probability, expected value, combinatorics, calculus and logic, with difficulty rising as you go. Quantt describes a 60-75 minute version with 30-50 questions and a pass rate widely understood to be 20-30%.
Put simply, Akuna rewards six seconds of clean arithmetic, while SIG rewards a few minutes on one conditional-probability problem. If you are fast but careless, Akuna's test suits you. If you are slower but rigorous, SIG's does.
The middle rounds. Akuna adds a recorded video with four behavioural questions sampled at random, then a phone round with a trader. Tradermath lists brainteasers, dice and card market-making games, probability and basic derivatives on that call. SIG runs a recruiter phone interview followed by a technical interview of about an hour with a senior trader, mostly probability (Tradermath).
The final round. Akuna's Super Day is in Chicago: four to five back-to-back 45-minute interviews, a trading game and a team lunch, with offers usually within a week (Quantt). SIG's Super Day can be in Bala Cynwyd, Dublin, London, Hong Kong or Sydney, with four to six interviews of 30-45 minutes, a group game and a lunch that is also assessed (Quantt). In SIG's group game you quote bids and offers on an unknown value against other candidates, and techinterview says interviewers watch whether your spread is sensible, whether you move quotes when information arrives, and whether you manage your position instead of chasing trades.
Options knowledge. This is where Akuna asks for more up front. Tradermath lists basic derivatives and option theory questions in the Akuna loop, and Akuna publishes a free Options 101 course covering pay-off diagrams, historical and implied volatility, and what a market maker watches on an options screen. SIG assumes you will learn options after you join: techinterview describes its trader programme as options theory, market-making mechanics, risk and trading simulation.
Training, culture and pay
Training. Quantt describes Akuna's trader training as a structured, full-time 12-week programme, and the Akuna interview already tests the options basics it builds on. SIG's programme runs several months in Bala Cynwyd or Dublin, adds structured poker lectures and tournament play, and techinterview notes that not every new hire passes. Interns see a shorter version: SIG's campus page describes a ten-week internship split between options theory and mock trading.
Poker. SIG's reputation is earned. Tradermath says the firm counts three WSOP bracelet winners and runs a firm-wide Hold'em tournament, yet has no dedicated poker interview round. Quantt lists a poker round for traders and stresses that it tests expected value, not card skill. Akuna's games are dice, cards and letter bets, used to test the same reasoning without the poker branding.
Pay. On guide ranges SIG pays more in year one: $200K-$300K per Quantt, up to $350K per techinterview, against $150K-$200K for Akuna per Quantt. Quant Blueprint's Akuna estimate is higher at $235K-$335K total for a new-grad quant trader, and the levels.fyi median for a junior Akuna trader is $250K, split $150K base and $100K bonus. For engineers the gap reverses: levels.fyi shows a $340,125 median at Akuna against $233,501 at SIG, both retrieved 15 September 2026.
What the community says. Treat these as dated anecdotes. In a May 2020 Blind thread ranking new-grad trading firms, one commenter put Akuna and SIG together in tier three, and another grouped them with Optiver and IMC below Jane Street and Citadel Securities. In a September 2020 Blind thread, a new grad weighing IMC, Akuna and Optiver offers of $225K-$300K was told by most respondents to take Optiver, and some mentioned "weird vibes" about Akuna's leadership. In an October 2020 thread about Citadel and Akuna internships, one commenter said Akuna's real advantage was hands-on prop trading exposure, and another warned the poster to be careful about work-life balance there.
What changed in 2026
Akuna stabilised after a hard 2023. Wikipedia records an 11% global workforce cut in January 2023, including rescinded new-hire contracts, and a 40% reduction in Asia-Pacific that June. Revelio's March 2026 count of 563 is still below 2023's 646, but up 1.2% on the prior year. If rescinded offers worry you, ask about start-date commitments before you sign.
Akuna widened its recruiting funnel. Its 2026 Virtual Quant Trading Challenge took applications from 11 June to 10 August and ran from 17 to 21 August: participants built Python market-making bots for a simulated exchange, and the most profitable entries were promised expedited final rounds for Quant internships and full-time roles in Chicago (Built In). Eligibility required a 3.5 major GPA and graduation between December 2026 and August 2028. Next is Options 201, a virtual course from 9 to 13 November 2026, where top performers are expedited to Junior Trader interviews for August 2027 or 2028 cohorts (Akuna on Greenhouse).
SIG invested in engineering. MyChesCo reported on 17 August 2026 that SIG hired Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++, as a technical fellow advising its engineers, and became a platinum sponsor of CppCon 2026, held 12-18 September in Aurora, Colorado. SIG's global head of technology called C++ foundational to the firm's work.
Which should you choose?
- You are fast at arithmetic and want a smaller desk: Akuna. Its first test is the one you are built for, and 30-40 graduate traders a year means a small cohort.
- You prefer depth to speed: SIG. A 17-question paper in an hour rewards candidates who work carefully through a harder problem.
- You are one or two years from graduating: start with Akuna's free Options 101 now and apply to Options 201. It is the only route in this comparison that starts with free coursework instead of a timed test.
- You want the higher year-one number and more seats: SIG, on every guide range we found.
- You are an engineer, not a trader: Akuna's $340,125 levels.fyi median is well ahead of SIG's, though SIG's Stroustrup hire signals where it is putting its C++ money.
- You need a work visa outside the US: SIG Dublin offers Ireland's Critical Skills Employment Permit, with a €36,848 graduate floor for listed occupations, €68,911 for others, and a route to Stamp 4 (enterprise.gov.ie). Akuna's footprint is Asia-Pacific; Australia's Core Skills Income Threshold for sponsored workers rose to AUD 79,423 on 1 July 2026 (EIG).
- You are undecided: apply to both. The tests stress different skills, and SIG's larger class gives you a second shot if Akuna's arithmetic screen goes badly.
Prepare for both
- Akuna Capital quantitative trader mock interview: Applr's Akuna mock covers the mental-math screen, dice market-making games and the options theory the Super Day assumes
- SIG quantitative trader mock interview: the probability paper, expected-value games and pot-odds reasoning
- SIG vs Jane Street (2026): SIG against the firm its former traders founded
- IMC vs Optiver (2026): two more options market makers to weigh alongside Akuna
- Free ATS resume checker: make sure your CV gets you to the test
Sources
- Quantt, Akuna Capital interview process, 5 May 2026
- Quantt, SIG interview process, 1 May 2026
- Tradermath, Akuna Capital interview guide, Jul 2024
- Tradermath, SIG interview guide, Jun 2024
- techinterview, SIG (Susquehanna) interview guide, updated 21 Jul 2026
- Quant Blueprint, How to get a job at Akuna Capital in 2026, retrieved Sep 2026
- Revelio Labs, Akuna Securities employee count (March 2026 data), retrieved 15 Sep 2026
- Revelio Labs, Susquehanna International Group employee count (March 2026 data), retrieved 15 Sep 2026
- levels.fyi, Akuna Capital salaries, retrieved 15 Sep 2026
- levels.fyi, Akuna Capital trader salaries, retrieved 15 Sep 2026
- levels.fyi, Susquehanna International Group salaries, retrieved 15 Sep 2026
- Wikipedia, Akuna Capital, retrieved Sep 2026
- Wikipedia, Susquehanna International Group, retrieved Sep 2026
- Built In, Akuna Capital's 2026 Virtual Quant Trading Challenge, Jun 2026
- Akuna Capital on Greenhouse, Options Trading 201 Course, retrieved Sep 2026
- Akuna Capital University, Options 101, retrieved Sep 2026
- Susquehanna, campus interns and co-ops, retrieved Sep 2026
- MyChesCo, "Susquehanna adds C++ creator Stroustrup as technical fellow", 17 Aug 2026
- Blind, "Best new grad trader company/location", May 2020
- Blind, "IMC vs Akuna vs Optiver for quant trading", Sep 2020
- Blind, "Citadel vs Akuna internship for future opportunities", Oct 2020
- Erickson Immigration Group, "Australia skilled visa income thresholds rise July 2026", 1 Jul 2026
- Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (Ireland), Critical Skills Employment Permit, retrieved Sep 2026
Frequently asked questions
- Is Akuna or SIG easier to get into as a new-grad trader?
- Neither firm publishes acceptance rates, but SIG has more seats. Quantt's 2026 guides put SIG at roughly 80-120 graduate traders a year and Akuna at roughly 30-40. The first tests also differ: Tradermath describes Akuna's opening screen as 80 mental-math questions in 8 minutes, and SIG's as 17 free-response probability questions in 60 minutes. Akuna offers side doors SIG does not, including Options 201, whose top performers are expedited to Junior Trader interviews.
- Which pays more for a new-grad trader, Akuna or SIG?
- SIG, on guide-level ranges. Quantt puts SIG graduate traders at $200K-$300K in the US and Akuna graduate traders at $150K-$200K in year one. Quant Blueprint's higher Akuna estimate is $235K-$335K total for a new-grad quant trader, and levels.fyi shows a $250K median for a junior Akuna trader ($150K base, $100K bonus), retrieved 15 September 2026. For software engineers the order flips: levels.fyi medians are $340,125 at Akuna and $233,501 at SIG.
- What is Akuna's Options 201 course and is it worth applying to?
- Per Akuna's Greenhouse posting, Options 201 is a one-week virtual course running 9-13 November 2026, about two hours a day, on how market makers price options, analyse risk and automate their workflow. It is open to students graduating between September 2026 and August 2028, and top performers are expedited to Junior Trader interviews for August 2027 or 2028 starts. The free Options 101 course on Akuna's Teachable site is recommended first.
- Do I need to play poker to get a trading job at SIG?
- No. Tradermath says there is no dedicated poker round and that new traders are taught after joining, although the firm counts three WSOP bracelet winners and runs a firm-wide Hold'em tournament. Quantt's May 2026 guide lists a poker round for trader candidates but says it tests expected-value reasoning, not card skill. Prepare pot odds and bet sizing either way.
- Is Akuna a stable place to start after its 2023 layoffs?
- It has stabilised but not regrown. Wikipedia records an 11% global workforce cut in January 2023, with some new-hire contracts rescinded, and a 40% cut in Asia-Pacific that June. Revelio Labs counts 563 employees in March 2026, down 12.8% from 646 in 2023 but up 1.2% on the prior year. SIG grew 19.9% to 3,867 over the same period.
- Which firm is better for an international student?
- It depends on which region you would accept. Akuna's non-US staff sit mostly in Asia-Pacific (Revelio Labs, March 2026), and Australia's Core Skills Income Threshold for sponsored workers rose to AUD 79,423 on 1 July 2026 (EIG). SIG has 23.5% of staff in Northern Europe and a Dublin office, where Ireland's Critical Skills Employment Permit has a €36,848 graduate floor for listed occupations and leads to Stamp 4 (enterprise.gov.ie).